ABSTRACT
The study examined how Ghana could harness its the potentials of is Diaspora to complement its development efforts. One of the biggest diasporas in recent times is that of the African diaspora or more specifically the Sub-Saharan diaspora. It used both primary and secondary sources to review, since independence, how successive governments have exploited the potentials of Ghana’s rich Diaspora in their development agenda. It uncovered that the diaspora constitutes one of the most reliable sources of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), entrepreneurs, specialised human resources, ethics and concepts of best practices, philanthropists, foreign currency remittances and agents of technology transfer. Ghana’s engagement of the Diaspora to complement its development was intensified in the 1980s and l990s when Ghana’s economic fortunes declined, and ERP and SAP were instituted. The advent of multi-party politics from the l990s upped Ghana’s Diaspora engagement through policy instruments such as reinvention Pan-Africanism, dual-citizenship, Diaspora Home-Coming festivals, Non-Resident Ghanaian Secretariat for Investment, the Joseph Project, creation of Tourism and Diaspora Relations Ministry, the Diaspora Support Unit, and the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) for Diaspora Engagement. These Diaspora engagement policies were, however, largely ad hoc strategies that lost their significance with change of governments. The study emphasized the need for a more coherent and comprehensive Diaspora engagement national policy that involves all sectors of the Ghanaian society. It recommended that future Diaspora policies formulations must involve the Diaspora, creation of a robust Diaspora database, and a proactive redressal of the Diaspora’s needs and challenges abroad for a better harnessing of the Diaspora’s development potentials to Ghana.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
Human migration has been going on for a long time. Lee raises a myriad of reasons for the occurrence of migration, principal among them is the push and pull.1 The push and pull factor categorizes the reasons for migration into things that are unfavorable or unattractive for staying (push) and things which attract people to another area (pull). Some examples of pull factors according to Lee are job opportunity, improved living conditions, better medical care and family reasons. Among the push factors are lack of jobs, famine, wars or military conflicts, forced labour and slave trade.2 Migration results in the creation of the diaspora, which although maybe be closely linked with forced migration, can also be voluntary.
One of the biggest Diasporas in recent times is that of the African diaspora or more specifically the Sub-Saharan diaspora.3 This can be traced back chiefly to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade which is estimated to have resulted in the transportations of millions of Africans to the Americas among whom 9.4-12 million are estimated to have survived.4 These groups and their descendants impacted heavily on the culture and economies of the New World colonies. Preceding the Trans- Atlantic Slave Trade was the Arab-controlled slave trade, which also resulted in the dispersal of millions of Africans to the Asian continent.5 In recent times, Africans have migrated out of the continent mainly for economic and conflict reasons.6 The main preferred destinations have been Europe and America. According to the Migration Policy Institute, approximately 7 to 8 million irregular migrants from Africa reside within the European Union (EU).7
The neoliberal bearings that supports the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, Western donor countries and agencies had produced stringent and austerity economic models which resulted in a plethora of cumbersome outcomes for the governments and peoples of Africa.8 These experiences have not gone unnoticed by African leaders who are very familiar with the economic packages and policies from these Western neoliberal institutions. It has become apparent that any form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that would benefit Africa without such excessive demands would be appreciably welcomed.9 This understanding provided a clear framework by which the African Diaspora could be engaged for the development of the African continent.
The Diaspora has become a new fad in development since the early 2000s, though they have existed for decades. As one writer puts it, “there are countless scholarly arguments in favor of the African diaspora as the next panacea, or ‘magic bullet’ for solving the development quagmire”.10 For example, the 2017 Migration and Remittances Data revealed total remittances from the African diaspora to Africa exceeded 33 billion dollars (World Bank, 2017).11 It was, therefore, not surprising that a year after this report was released, the African Union (AU) amended article 3(q) of its Constitutive Act and essentially identified the African Diaspora as its Sixth Region.12 In this development, the AU defines the African diaspora as “consisting of people of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality, and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union.” 13
African countries, including those in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, have over 30 million international migrants.14 The size of the African diaspora, including unrecorded migrants and second- and third-generation migrants, is significantly larger. The World Bank revealed that
migrant remittances to Africa surged by 3.4% to $35.2 billion, in 2015.15 Over the past four years, transfers by African migrants to their homes reached $134 .4 billion.16 The potential contribution of the diaspora to the continent’s development goes much beyond personal remittances. Those contributions range from collective remittances that assist in philanthropic activities to knowledge exchange, increased trade links, and better access to foreign capital markets. It is estimated that the African Diasporas save US$53 billion annually, most of which is currently invested outside Africa and which could potentially be mobilized for Africa via instruments such as diaspora bonds.17
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have estimated that since 1990 at least 20 000 professionals had left the continent annually.18Furthermore, five million African entrepreneurs and professionals are living in the diaspora and 40 percent of African professionals and higher-level managers are residing outside the continent.19 For example, countries like Nigeria have more than half of their academic personnel working abroad. Records show that upon completion of their studies, more than three-quarters of all doctors leave within a few years in Ghana and Zimbabwe. The World Bank estimates that more Ethiopian doctors are practicing in the city of Chicago in the United States (US) than in Ethiopia itself (World Bank-2, 2007).20 These statistics and research prove that indeed the contributions of the African diaspora is crucial for the development agenda of the African continent.
Ghana has been a favorable destination for those whose past are connected to the African roots. The latter includes the two categories of African diaspora; the African diaspora created through
forced migration, and contemporary migration, which includes the African diaspora that emerged during colonial rule, anti-colonial struggles and the era of structural adjustment packages.21 The other group is the Ghanaian diaspora whose period of migration could be traced from the 1960s, 1980s and in the 21st Century in what has been referred to as Contemporary diaspora by Zeleza.22 Another identifiable group are those returning Pan Africanists who are descendants of slaves and are attempting to retrace their roots.23 A popular figure among this group is Rita Marley who sometimes resides in Ghana.
Ghana’s engagement initiatives with the African diaspora are worth mentioning. Quartey maintained that remittance flows more than doubled from 7 million dollars to 16 million dollars after the 4th Republic was ushered.24 Ten years after the ushering of the 4th Republic there was a dramatic increase in Ghanaian total remittances from 46 million dollars to 136 million dollars by 2001. By the close of the 2015 fiscal year, migrant remittances to Ghana were at a total of 2 billion dollars.25 It is also estimated that 200 health professionals participated in the Migration for Development Project, which facilitated the return of over 250 health professionals to work temporarily in Ghana.26 In view of this, this study examines Ghana’s engagement with its Diaspora in harnessing the development potentials of the Diasporas.
Statement of the Problem
It is a fact that migration issues continue to engage the attention of the world. For example, McAuliffe and Ruhs state, “the prominence of migration as a public policy issue and newsworthy topic has perhaps never been more pronounced”.27 Migration is increasingly seen as a high-priority policy issue by many governments and politicians throughout the world. Its importance to
economic prosperity, human development, and safety and security ensures that it will remain a top priority for the near future. Migration does not only remain a key governance issue for its positives but also for the negative features it is associated with. The Wilson Centre argues that criminal diasporas have gained prominence primarily due to the strong governmental response to the drug trade in advanced countries. These criminals migrate to countries with less stringent responses to their activities due to a myriad of factors including corruption. The criminal diasporas then bring the associated vices to the drug trade such as human trafficking, kidnappings and murder to these less developed countries.28 Migration is therefore as much of a developmental issue as it is a security issue. Ghana, like many other African countries, has recognized the need to develop and strengthen networks and means of engagement essential for deepening communication and building partnerships with its diaspora and to handle the unwanted effects of this migration.
According to Giles, this recognition and its associated efforts have been largely incoherent, patchy and uncoordinated.29 Literature on the diaspora also tends to focus more on the benefits that countries of origin for the African diaspora stand to gain rather than a multi-pronged strategy that can help governments derive maximum benefits from their large and successful diaspora communities.30
In the case of Ghana, while the awareness of the development potential the Diaspora can contribute to Ghana’s development is obvious and appreciated, the question remains as to what are the strategies towards engaging the diaspora? Are the policies comprehensive? Are they geared
towards longtime engagement? Or are they largely individual initiatives of respective governments, and presidents without continuity?1
Research questions
In undertaking this study, the following questions are answered.
- How does Ghana define or conceptualize the diaspora?
- What are Ghana’s policies in engaging the diaspora?
- What are the challenges and prospects in engaging the diaspora?
- Are there concepts of best practices in engaging the diaspora being adopted by Ghana? If not, how does it improve its policies and maximize its benefits or gains in engaging the diaspora?
